Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Love this merlot. Violets, roses, incense, and currants come to the fore on the nose. Full body and ultra-fine tannins that are so polished and integrated they become seamless and incredibly beautiful. Long and flavorful finish. Drink or hold. Long life ahead but who can wait?
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Jeb Dunnuck
The Merlot-dominated 2014 Roberta's Reserve (there's 3% Cabernet Franc) is all about finesse and elegance, revealing a semi-opaque ruby hue (no bricking) as well as a beautiful perfume of sweet red and black fruits, leafy tobacco, truffly earth, and subtle chocolaty, spicy, floral nuances. These all carry to a medium to full-bodied Merlot with a supple, elegant mouthfeel, resolved, soft tannins, no hard edges, and outstanding length. It's another 2014 that builds nicely with air, and while it's clearly in its prime drinking window, it has another decade or more of prime drinking.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Roberta’s Reserve State Lane Vineyard is a blend of 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. 650 cases were produced, which is 27% of their total production. This was actually showing more fruit, density and personality than the more closed and reserved 2013. I’m not sure it has the concentration and overall upside potential of the 2013, but it’s beautifully rich, with loads of coffee bean, black chocolate, black cherry and mocha notes, a full-bodied mouthfeel, terrific purity and density. It should drink well for 15-20 years. Range: 94-96
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Vinous
The 2014 Roberta’s Reserve is a total delight. Now at the beginning of its first plateau of maturity, the 2014 is showing beautifully. Cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, mint, dried cherry and coffee open in the super-expressive bouquet. Truffle, dried flowers, mint and mocha appear later to play off a core of dark Merlot fruit. A touch of Cabernet Franc completes the blend. Rating: 96+
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
One of Napa Valley's most historic sub-appellations, Yountville spreads through some of the valley's ideal cooler sites and enjoys success with a handful of different and significant grape varieties.
Syrah competes strongly with Cabernet Sauvignon here for optimal vineyard real estate followed by Pinot noir, Pinot blanc and Sauvignon blanc.
This sub-AVA of Napa Valley is rich in the history that makes Napa Valley what it is today, and not just for red wines. Moët & Chandon entered the California winemaking business via Yountville in 1973 with the establishment Domaine Chandon. Their goal has always been to produce top quality méthode champenoise sparkling wines.
Christian Moueix, originally responsible for managing Chateau Petrus and La Fleur-Petrus in Pomerol, arrived in Yountville in the early 1980s. He formed a partnership with Rohin Lail and Marcia Smith, inheritors of Napanook vineyard from their father John Daniel of Inglenook in Rutherford. In 1995 Moueix became sole owner of Napanook and chose the name Dominus, which today produces some of Napa’s highest scoring, age-worthy Bordeaux Blends.